The Body in the Volvo

Kathrine Kristine Beck was born in Seattle, Washington, on September 22, 1950. She received a B.A. from San Francisco State University. Before becoming a full-time mystery writer, Beck wrote advertising copy and edited a trade magazine. At one point she also sold radio air time, an experience she was later to include in We Interrupt this show more Broadcast, a mystery set in a small, classical radio station. Beck's mysteries are usually written in a light-hearted vein. Her first mystery, Death in a Deck Chair, is an entertaining period piece set in the 1920s on a transatlantic ocean liner. The two main characters from that book, debutante college student Iris Cooper and brash young reporter Jack Clancy, reappear in some of her later books, including Murder in a Mummy Case and Peril Under the Palms. Another recurring character is Jane da Silva, a middle-aged widow who becomes involved with various mysteries after she inherits her uncle's estate and, along with it, his business, which was helping desperate people find a solution to their problems. Books in this series include A Hopeless Case and Amateur Night. Other books by Beck include The Revenge of Kali-Ra; Bad Neighbors; Cold Smoked; Electric City; Young Mrs. Cavendish and the Kaiser's Men; Unwanted Attentions; Without a Trace; Death of a Prom Queen, which was written under the pseudonym Marie Oliver, and The Tell-Tale Tattoo. (Bowker Author Biography) show less